As we prepare for tonight’s season opener, here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
The Ravens added a notable special teamer to their taxi squad today, agreeing to a deal with veteran J.T. Gray. The 29-year-old spent his entire professional career with the Saints before getting cut by the team last week. The majority of Gray’s playing time has come on special teams, where he’s earned three All-Pro nods for his efforts. As Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes, the veteran will likely see a role in Baltimore, as the team is still looking to fill holes left by a handful of departed core special teamers this past offseason.
To accommodate the addition of old friend Gabe Davis to the practice squad, the Bills had to get a bit creative. Temporarily, the team has released veteran safety Jordan Poyer, but the former Buffalo starter shouldn’t be gone for long. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, Poyer is expected to rejoin the Bills practice squad once Davis is placed on the taxi squad injured list.
The Lions landed on a third-string quarterback after holding an audition earlier today. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports that the team has signed C.J. Beathard to the practice squad. Beathard worked out for the team earlier today alongside Nathan Peterman. Beathard has only started one game since garnering 12 starts for the 49ers between 2017 and 2020. He split last season with the Jaguars and Dolphins without getting into a game. In Detroit, he’ll serve as a third-stringer behind Jared Goff and Kyle Allen.
After one season out of Buffalo, Gabe Davis is on his way back. The veteran receiver has agreed to a Bills reunion, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. 
Davis played out his rookie contract in Buffalo, establishing himself as a standout deep threat along the way. It came as no surprise when he departed on the open market, however. The 26-year-old landed a $13MM-per-year deal with the Jaguars in free agency. After one injury-filled campaign in Jacksonville, Davis was one of several receivers the team’s new regime elected to move on from.
That decision led to a long-running free agent process. Davis met with the 49ers, Giants and Saints once each this offseason, while also firmly remaining on the Steelers’ radar. A second visit with Pittsburgh took place last month, but no agreement was worked out. Shortly after that follow-up with the Steelers, Davis lined up a summit with the Bills. A familiar face to general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott, the former third-rounder did enough to land a new opportunity with his original team. Other offers were in play as well, Schefter’s colleague ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds.
A meniscus tear limited Davis to 10 games last year, and medical evaluations were a key focus of his visits. To no surprise, Schefter notes this will be a practice squad agreement. Veterans often take the taxi squad route upon joining teams once roster cuts have taken place. Davis will continue working toward full strength with an eye on moving to the active roster in short order.
Buffalo extended Khalil Shakir this offseason, making him one of many players to receive a long-term commitment on a second contract. The team also added Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore in free agency after seeing Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins depart. 2024 second-rounder Keon Coleman is positioned to take a step forward this season, with Palmer and Shakir handling notable roles along the way.
When he finds himself on the active roster, Davis will look to carve out a spot as well. The UCF product averaged 16.7 yards per catch and scored 27 touchdowns with the Bills. A strong second stint in Buffalo would help rebuild his value on another commitment from the team or a pact sending him elsewhere next spring.
The Bills saw a depth piece on their defensive line go down with a season-ending injury today. Defensive tackle DeWayne Carter suffered a torn Achilles tendon, according to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Now, instead of preparing for Week 1 of the 2025 season, the 24-year-old will begin working his way back to the field in time for 2026.
Carter was a third-round pick for Buffalo last year after five years at Duke. He started earning some recognition in his redshirt sophomore year with the Blue Devils, when he earned third-team All-ACC honors in his first year as a full-time starter, breaking out with 4.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, and three batted passes. He stepped it up in 2022, logging 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, four passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries, including one returned for a touchdown.
After earning second-team All-ACC honors for his redshirt junior season, Carter’s production dropped a bit in 2023 as he became a focal point for opposing offenses. He only logged once sack and four tackles for loss, but he did bat four passes and returned another fumble for a touchdown. His defensive impact was still clear as he earned first-team All-ACC honors and became a third-round pick headed to Buffalo.
As a rookie, Carter was eased into the NFL with a minimal Week 1 workload but became a significant part of the rotation on the defensive line for the next six weeks, even earning his first two career starts in Weeks 5 & 6. He missed the next five weeks but returned to play in four of the final five games of the season, including a Week 18 start as the usual starters rested. In 11 games with three starts, Carter totaled five tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and one pass defensed.
Carter wasn’t expected to step into a starting role in 2025 as DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver return to the starting lineup, but the second-year lineman was once again expected to be a key part of the rotation, especially during the suspension of free agent addition Larry Ogunjobi. Instead, Carter will likely undergo surgery and begin rehabilitation with a goal of being healthy for Year 3.
For the second year in a row, the Bills are doing their due diligence on kickers amidst concerns with regular kicker Tyler Bass. Bass’s kicking performance in 2024 was about the same as the prior year that prompted the first host of kickers, but per USA Today’s Nick Wojton, there are now injury concerns also in consideration. 
According to Wojton, Bass missed most of training camp with a pelvic injury. He was able to be cleared in time for the preseason finale, making three of his four attempts in that game, but there are clearly concerns about his ability to be reliable here at the start of the season.
As said last year, and as if to underline the point, Bass has been nothing if not consistent. In his first three seasons, Bass missed four field goals attempts in each regular season. In both 2023 and 2024, Bass went exactly 24-for-29. Last year, Bass went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals over 50 yards but missed four from 40-49 yards and one from 20-29 yards.
His rookie season saw him miss two field goals and an extra point attempt in the playoffs, and his second trip to the postseason the next year saw him miss two more extra point attempts. He cleaned it up with a perfect postseason in 2022, though he didn’t attempt a kick over 40 yards, but 2023 saw him miss three postseason field goal attempts, including one late in the team’s divisional round loss to the Chiefs. He turned it around again in 2024, going a perfect 6-for-6 in the postseason, including two from beyond 50 yards.
With injuries serving as a potential hindrance to Bass starting the regular season, the team hosted three free agent kickers — up one from last year. According to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, Eddy Pineiro, Zane Gonzalez, and Greg Joseph came in to work out with the Bills.
Gonzalez has been around the longest of the three, getting drafted in the seventh round by the Browns in 2017. Gonzalez appeared in six games for the Commanders in 2024 but hadn’t appeared in a game before that since the 2021 season.
Joseph had three straight seasons with the Vikings from 2021-23, but the team allowed him to walk in free agency after watching him struggle with accuracy issues. Last year, Joseph appeared in eight games with three different teams; he kicked in six games with the Giants and a game apiece with the Commanders and Jets, going 16-for-20 overall.
Pineiro has been the Panthers’ primary kicker for each of the past three seasons. He’s been impressive as a field goal kicker, going 33-for-35 in his first year with the team and 5-for-7 from beyond 50 yards in his second year with the team. His biggest struggle has oddly been with extra points. During his time in Carolina, Pineiro has missed seven extra point attempts.
While Bass has had his struggles at times in Buffalo, it’s clear that none of the options visiting this weekend are clear upgrades over the 28-year-old. If Bass ends up needing to miss any time due to his pelvis injury, though, look for one of the veteran kickers to land on the practice squad in Buffalo, so they can be called up as a standard gameday elevation, if needed.
The Ravens have been busy throughout the offseason getting ahead of future contract decisions by extending key players. While Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley was in danger of testing the free agent market when he signed his new deal, other players the team extended this offseason — All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, wide receiver Rashod Bateman, and most recently, All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton — all had one or two years left on their contracts when they signed. Even with all they’ve done so far, the team sees work to be done, and it may begin with their MVP. 
All Pro quarterback Lamar Jackson is about to enter the third year of a five-year, $260MM contract. At one point a deal that made Jackson the highest-paid player in NFL history, the contract’s annual average value ($52MM) currently ranks 10th in the league and is beginning to be encroached upon by non-quarterbacks; Micah Parsons‘ new deal is worth $46.5MM per year, which is good for the 12th-highest such average in the NFL. It was reported in March that the Ravens were looking to put together a new deal for their star passer, and by June, talks were already underway.
According to general manager Eric DeCosta, Baltimore isn’t resting on its laurels as extension conversations with Jackson have been “ongoing.” DeCosta declined to go into detail on the situation, confirming with reporters that discussions with his quarterback would remain private.
“I like to work kind of in the dark, quietly, and try to get as much done as we can,” DeCosta told the media (via Ravens staff writer Clifton Brown). “We’ve got a lot of different things going on. We’ve got a lot of really good players; we’ve got players that deserve to be paid well, and we’re trying to keep those guys. Knowing that, as I’ve said 1,000 times, you can’t keep everybody.”
There are plenty of players for Baltimore to target with new contracts. The focus, so far, has been on players with time remaining on their current deals, but center Tyler Linderbaum, defensive tackle Travis Jones, fullback Patrick Ricard, edge rushers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, and all three tight ends — Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Charlie Kolar — are set to play on contract years.
DeCosta is certainly correct, they can’t keep everybody, but they definitely can’t keep everybody if they allow Jackson to play on a contract that holds a $74.5MM cap hit in 2026, nearly a quarter of the team’s salary cap space for that season. We’ve already discussed in detail how an extension for Jackson may look and how the Bills may have given them the formula for success. Regardless of the details, figuring out what Jackson’s financial future looks like should factor in to how many pending free agents the Ravens can afford to try to retain.
Teams do not have to release injury reports until next week, but the Bills may have a second issue at cornerback to open their season. Maxwell Hairston is on IR, being one of the 41 players to receive a return designation Tuesday, but the Bills’ preferred option behind the rookie — Tre’Davious White — now appears uncertain for Week 1. White suffered what the Bills are calling a lower leg injury during the final training camp practice, The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia notes, and did not travel to the team’s preseason finale in Tampa. White did not practice at the Bills workout open to the media Wednesday.
White certainly has a history of injury trouble, going down with an ACL tear in 2021 and an Achilles tear in 2023. Those maladies altered White’s first Bills stint, as he became a cap casualty in March 2024. Re-signing on a one-year, $3MM deal, White has a prime opportunity to be Buffalo’s boundary CB opposite Christian Benford — the team’s 2023 season-opening setup. This is not a season-ending injury, per GM Brandon Beane, and White not landing on IR points to a September return. If White is unable to go, the Bills have Ja’Marcus Ingram, sixth-round rookie Dorian Strong and practice squad stash Dane Jackson. If the Bills place White on IR now, he would not count against their eight-activation total like Hairston and Tylan Grable do.
Here is the latest from the AFC East:
The modern NFL features four clear trade windows. While the Cowboys and Steelers’ George Pickens swap showed moves can be made at other points on the NFL calendar, early March, the draft, the late-August 53-man roster-setting date and the November deadline reside as the primary points trades occur around the league. On that note, it is a good time to check in on what has transpired on the trade market between windows two and three.
Excluding pick-for-pick trades, here are the moves NFL teams have made thus far in 2025:
49ers chose running back Jordan James at 147
Rams traded pick to Vikings, moving up to No. 172 for linebacker Chris Paul Jr.
Seahawks chose quarterback Jalen Milroe at 92
Seahawks used No. 52 to trade up (via the Titans) 17 spots for safety Nick Emmanwori, drafted running back Damien Martinez at 223; Steelers selected quarterback Will Howard at 185
Texans added wide receiver Jaylin Noel at 79, sent 236 to Jaguars in Day 2 trade; Commanders chose wideout Jaylin Lane at No. 128
Eagles used No. 164 to climb one spot (via Chiefs) in first round for linebacker Jihaad Campbell
Bills took Ohio State cornerback Jordan Hancock at 170; Cowboys chose guard Ajani Cornelius at No. 204
Titans drafted running back Kalel Mullings at No. 188; Cowboys chose running back Phil Mafah at 239
Vikings packaged No. 187 in trade-down move (via Texans); 49ers drafted safety Marques Sigle at 160
Patriots traded down from No. 171 (via Lions) to draft kicker Andres Borregales; Cowboys chose defensive tackle Jay Toia at 217
Seahawks selected defensive lineman Rylie Mills at No. 142; Vikings traded No. 172 to Rams
Pick could upgrade to fourth-rounder if performance-based conditions are met
2026 fifth-round pick (from Bryce Huff trade) could upgrade to fourth-rounder, which would be sent to Jacksonville if 49ers DE meets those conditions
Teams around the NFL continued to adjust their practice squads as new players came free from Wednesday’s transactions. Here are all the latest updates:
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos:
Detroit Lions:
Green Bay Packers:
Houston Texans:
Indianapolis Colts:
Jacksonville Jaguars:
Kansas City Chiefs:
Los Angeles Chargers:
Miami Dolphins:
Minnesota Vikings:
New England Patriots:
New York Giants:
New York Jets:
Philadelphia Eagles:
San Francisco 49ers:
Seattle Seahawks:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Tennessee Titans:
Washington Commanders:
Signed: RB Donovan Edwards, CB Darius Rush
Ismail was one of 17 players to work out for the Giants on Thursday, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. He won the practice squad spot over more notable players like former Broncos safety Caden Sterns and former Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma also attended the workout, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, suggesting that the Giants might be looking for extra depth at the position.
Wallace worked out for the Vikings on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. It must have gone well, as he was signed to the practice squad hours later as extra depth both in the secondary and on special teams.
Griffin returned to the Seahawks this offseason, eight years after they made him a third-round pick in the 2017 draft. He did not make Seattle’s 53-man roster, but as a vested veteran, he was able to re-sign to the practice squad without going through waivers.
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.
Signed to practice squad:
Released from IR via injury settlement:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
Claimed:
Released:
Signed to practice squad: